


unraveling (behind the infirmary door)

by 4wholecats



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [26]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo | Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Genre: Blood and Injury, Febuwhump 2021, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4wholecats/pseuds/4wholecats
Summary: “He could have at least stayed to help out,” Reiden mumbles, reaching out and grabbing ahold of one of Belf’s slack hands. Roberto takes the other; the dead weight of the limb is disturbing, but the other man’s fingers twitch, and his palm is warm. It could be far worse.
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114982
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	unraveling (behind the infirmary door)

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS A SEQUEL TO ONE OF THE OTHER FICS I WROTE FOR THIS CHALLENGE but it probably stands well enough on its own. the first one is called reuniting (across the operating table) and i recommend you read that one first for context!
> 
> anyways the sable boys care about each other. even sirius.

Roberto blinks hard, glancing up to Reiden. “On three?”

The other knight, sporting a bruising eye socket and a bandaged nose, nods.

“Alright- one, two, three-”

They lift the stretcher between them, the canvas in the middle sagging as Belf’s unconscious body settles into place. He’s breathing more evenly now, which is good, but he’s still so pale... The cart-ride back to the fort had not been kind to him. Wrys had said he’d been dry-heaving in his sleep, not to mention that his nose was bleeding again.

The mysterious knight jogs ahead of the procession to open the door to the infirmary, and Roberto catches the slightest bit of a frown on his face as he passes by. Frankly, he was amazed the man had bothered to stick around at all given his usual attitude towards interpersonal communication.

“There was an empty room somewhere down this hall-” Wrys teeters along, poking his head through the corridor’s open doors. Roberto grits his teeth as he readjusts his grip; Belf’s body is heavy, and after a long battle, his fingers and arms ache...

“Ah, right in here, gentlemen,” Wrys calls, ushering the group into the small room. They place the stretcher on the ground slowly as Belf begins to cough again, face twisting into a grimace. Wrys sighs. “Poor boy… I wish there was more I could do…”

“You’ve done more than enough… we thank you for the help- truly,” Reiden responds, offering an unfeeling smile to the old man. 

“Ah… perhaps… still…” Wrys mumbles, stepping back as the two knights prepare to lift their fallen comrade onto the bed. “I’ll come back and check on him later tonight… but someone- one of you- should stay here with him until he’s back on his feet. Just in case something goes wrong… that way you can run and get a healer,” he looks expectantly at the two men in front of him before turning around to glance quizzically at the masked knight still hovering near the door. Belf’s coat lays over Sirius’s arm, still soaked through with brown patches of drying blood.

Sirius’s mouth twitches further into a frown as he deposits the garment on a nearby chair before turning on his heel and disappearing out the way he came. The sound of his armored boot-heels fades as Reiden’s face turns into a scowl. Roberto lets out a sigh.

“Ah, well… perhaps one of you two…” Wrys continues.

“We’d be happy to,” Robero states, nodding his head. 

“Good, good… well then, I must attend to the rest of the injured… come find me if anything seems to be amiss…” the old priest says, following the mysterious knight down the hallway, back towards the rest of the army. Many had been injured- it would be a long and stressful night for the old man.

Belf shifts in the bed slightly, his head turning to the side in his sleep. Reiden takes a deep breath before yanking the now dirty chair forwards towards the bedside. Roberto takes the coat from him, running his fingers over the thick claw marks across its front. 

“He’s really lucky,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, he is.”

“Thank Naga that Sir C-” Reiden fixes him with a hard look as Roberto trips over his words,”-Sirius was there to hold him together until the clerics arrived.”

Reiden’s shoulders stiffen. Roberto closes the door to the small room before hanging the coat on the knob. It pools on the floor in a muddied grey and brown mass. He’d get rid of it later- or perhaps Belf would still want it? Some soldiers liked to keep their ruined clothing and armor around; displaying them as trophies of their survival. Roberto remembers seeing one of Reiden’s mother’s shields mounted on the wall of the other man’s childhood home, a stray arrow still buried in the metal. 

He turns from the coat, wandering back over to the bed and taking a seat on the end of it. Belf wheezes again, his arms twitching against the thin sheets. 

“Are there any blankets in here? He’s probably cold without his shirt…” Roberto asks, looking around curiously. Reiden leans down to check under the bed and returns with something that looks scratchy but warm, throwing it over the two other men. Roberto covers Belf’s bandages carefully, painfully aware of the red spots already starting to poke through the tightly wound fabric. He doesn’t want to look at the injury anymore. It makes his stomach flip.

“He could have at least stayed to help out,” Reiden mumbles, reaching out and grabbing ahold of one of Belf’s slack hands. Roberto takes the other; the dead weight of the limb is disturbing, but the other man’s fingers twitch, and his palm is warm. It could be far worse.

“He  _ did _ help, Reiden. We wouldn’t be here if he didn’t.”

“...”

“We would be digging a grave right now.”

Reiden hangs his head. “I know. I just wish…” His sentence trails, leaving the room stagnant and empty. 

Roberto leans forward, putting his free hand under his chin as his eyes drift closed.

“...I know. I wish it too.”

Below them, Belf takes another, slightly stronger breath.

**Author's Note:**

> comment and read my other stuff if it pleases you!
> 
> cant believe im almost done with this challenge! only like 2 more days left! wow! then ill get back to updating my longer stuff i know a bunch of people are looking forward to the next chapter of balsam and ash :3!


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